The Willows Lakeside Wellbeing Retreat

Relax, recharge and revel a while in the essentials...

Come for a day or camp with us for a weekend of peace and togetherness at the beautiful Willows Lakeside Retreat, nestled in the Sussex hills.

Rest in the Autumn still-point of the year. Reflect, restore and find balance. Nurture your connection to yourself through mindfulness, meditation, creativity, story and song. Breathe in the beauty and tranquility of the lakeside fields, alive with wildlife and late Summer beauty. Share quietness and peace, community and laughter. Craft and play together in a variety of lovely, shared activities. Feel your place in the deep cycles of life. Bathe in firelight under the dark sky. Participate in a drumming journey to explore, nourish and honour your inner landscape and the path you are treading... learn and sing songs in full voiced harmony as an offering to yourself, to each other and to the land, giving back for the bountiful harvest of Summer. Explore the lake and fields...

This is an adult only event; an intimate gathering to immerse yourself in the peace and tranquility of nature. To deeply nourish your own being and your need for time; to explore how you are, who you are, what you need, and where you are along your journey.

The retreat is taking place in the beautiful landscape of The Willows Lakeside Retreat: thewillowslakeside retreat.com

The weekend is being facilitated by:

Alex Childs: Shamanic practitioner, meditation teacher, facilitator of ceremony and sacred circle. https://instagram.com/wildlight_shamanicpractice

Emma Beard: Story teller, nature connection facilitator, mother, Green Councillor, passionate being.

Emily Longhurst: Natural Voice practitioner, SoundField journeying facilitator, home educator, lover of life. https://tinyurl.com/3cuwye43

Nicola Peel: Nicola is the custodian of the land and will be leading talks in biomimicry and eco-solutions over the weekend to educate and connect you to its wisdom. https://www.nicolapeel.com/

In addition to all of our wonderful workshops, we have an incredible on-site massage therapist with us this year. Kay Delphine is a Reiki master and has 35 years of experience specialising in deep tissue massage, MLD, reflexology and Reiki. Booking is essential. Please find booking options on the ticket page, where you can purchase a 60 minute session on your preferred day. Your time slot will be allocated on the weekend. Limited spaces available. Please book early to avoid disappointment.

Included in your weekend and Saturday day tickets is a delicious vegan evening meal, consisting of:

Masoor Dal (made with red lentils), Vegetable curry, Raita(grated cucumber with spices in yogurt), Homemade mango chutney, Chapatis cooked on the fire (wheat/gluten), Grated carrot and beetroot salad dressed with walnut oil lime juice parsley and walnuts.

for those of you with allergies or sensitivities, please bring alternatives.

In addition, the wonderful Whimsy Brews will be returning once again to offer delightful teas and hot drinks all throughout the weekend.

For those who would like to camp with us for the weekend, new for this year, a separate Camping Pass will need to be purchased with your ticket. Please bring your own food, drinks, cooking equipment and crockery etc for the weekend, and something for a lush shared feast on Friday evening.The site will be open for set up from 4pm on Friday 5th. A limited number of glamping options are available; please see FAQs for further information and book early to avoid disappointment.

For those of you that can't stay with us the whole weekend, Day Tickets are available for Saturday and Sunday; arrival between 9 - 10am. Please do NOT arrive outside of these times unless by prior arrangement.

Please see FAQs for other available accommodations.

A Weekend or Day Ticket will need to be presented for entry. Please bring your tickets with you.

We are expecting tickets to sell out quickly so do please book early to avoid missing out! We have a few concessionary tickets available.

Contact emilylonghurst@hotmail.com for any further information.

Program

A full and delightful itinerary of activities will be presented on arrival but here is the guideline order of events (subject to change).

Friday

4pm: Arrival. Set up tents, settle in...

6.30pm: Opening ceremony. Time to connect with each other, with the land that is holding us, with the living beings we will be sharing it with for the weekend.

Followed by a shared feast! Please bring a contribution for the table, vegetarian so all can partake!

8-10pm: Singing and storytelling by the fire. Gaze at the stars, feel the warmth of the fire, sing together to begin our weaving, and rest and revel in the magic and wonder of fireside story....

Saturday

8-9am: Pilates with Lenka. Begin the morning by connecting to your body, opening and flowing, breathing and moving, supported by Lenka's deep experience and gentle approach.

10-11am: Moth discovery with Lee and Emma. Delve into the wonderful world of moths! See and encounter, close up, the beauty of the moths caught in the moth trap over night. Watch them slowly emerge, learn all about them from Lee and Emma and delight in their amazing beauty and variety! A favourite workshop!

11.15-12.30pm: Play workshop with Alex. A joyful opportunity to connect with each other and reconnect with our child selves - to return to innocence and explore the wonderful spontaneity of play again.

11.15-12.30pm: Viking braiding with Emily. Learn how to make a beautiful woven braid, to wear and to give. Choose colours that represent to you that which you wish to weave into your life and bring them all together in pattern, a reminder and talisman of the rich threads and weave of your journey.

12.30-2pm: Lunch

2-3pm: Singing with Emily. Fill the air, yourselves and each other with melody, harmony, the resonance and vibration of delight!

3.30-5.30pm: Tea crafting workshop with Whimsy Brews. Discover the rich and wonderful world of teas! Learn how to blend the perfect brew, exploring qualities, quantities, taste and brew times for each herb. Learn all about their folklore and health benefits. Then you will blend together your favourite herbs to take away and enjoy.

3.30-4.30pm: Learning from Nature’s principles with Nicola. An exploration and guided tour of the land.

4.30-5.30pm: Pilates with Lenka. Another chance to fully enter your body, to move and feel its flow. Expertly guided by Lenka's deep awareness and experience.

5.30-7pm: Feasting and togetherness. Details to be announced...

7-8pm: Deep listening in the dark with Emma. Open your senses to the richness of the dusk, enter a fuller encounter with all that is breathing and being and stirring there...

8-9pm: Fire and drumming journey with Alex. A chance to explore the underworld or inner world of your psyche. To journey into the subconscious. What is your heart’s desire? What is your soul yearning?

9-10pm: Singing and storytelling around the fire. Revel in the ancient bliss of fireside togetherness, storytelling, singing, community and belonging...

Sunday

8-9am: Pilates with Lenka.

10-10.45am: Singing with Emily. Immerse yourself in song and breath, harmony and delight, singing our offering to the morning, to ourselves, to each other...

11-12pm: Nature mandalas with Sarah. Weave together the natural beauty, colour and form of nature with your inspiration and creativity, making offerings to the land of beautiful mandalas, made from gathered and foraged things.

11-12pm: Hapa Zome print-making with Emma. Play with colour, experiment with mark making, create with the wonders of plants by our side. A moment to relax into yourself and the surroundings and let the colours flow.

12-1.30pm: Lunch

1.30-2.30pm: Experience the ancient practice of Terra Divina with Dom. Enter a ‘thin’ place and encounter the sacred in all things, listening and responding with our whole selves to the natural world around us.

1.30-2.30pm: Smudge bundles with Alex. Forage and create your own smudge bundles, learning about the properties of various herbs and trees that can be used to create smudge for cleansing and purifying.

2.45-3.45: Sacred dance with Jules. Beautiful traditional dances celebrating life and love and the interwovenness of all life. Joyous, easy and timeless.

2.45-3.45: Sit-spot Poetry with Emma. Enter in to your imagination, into the natural space around us and find the poetry that arises there.

4-5pm: Learning from Nature’s principles with Nicola. An exploration and guided tour of the land.

4-5pm: The Art of Gazing with Emily. 'The eyes are the windows of the soul'. Take a deep moment or two to be still, to be present, to really encounter each other through the art and practice of seeing. A practice that can melt the distance we might feel between us.

5-5.30pm: Closing ceremony and singing.